Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

Hi folks.

Anybody have any experience in GBINP? I'd like to head there this
summer to have a look. My kayaking mate and I go for 5 days, camping,
etc.

Cheers

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

On 12-May-2006, "BeeRich" wrote:

Anybody have any experience in GBINP? I'd like to head there this
summer to have a look. My kayaking mate and I go for 5 days, camping,
etc.

Lots of cottages in the area - motorboats, limited camping etc.

You'd be a lot better off going further north. From Parry Sound northwards there's
lots of Crown land for camping and fewer motorboats in general. You could do
Snug Harbour to Bayfield Inlet in five days with lots of islands - stay inside the
channels in rough weather and outside the islands when it's nice. You'd have
to do a car shuttle; if there's only two of you, consider an out-and-back instead
of one-way. A loop from Snug Harbour out to the Minks and McCoys then
across to Shawanaga Island and then down to Franklin is nice. You have to
get a map that shows which islands are private and which are Crown.

If you are willing to drive that far, an out-and-back for five days from the town of
Killarney to the south side of Philip Edward Island would be quite nice - that area
is one of the best kept sea kayaking secrets in the world.

Mike

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

OK, when I posted I thought that the Honey Harbour area is where we
would launch from, and head over to the Ojibwa (?) which is what I'm
thinking is the park. Sound reasonable?

We're doing our second trip in Massassauga, and it's one incredible
place to kayak in. So North is where we're coming from. We found
Massassauga as far as we might go, although we've had plans for
Kilarney. We want to avoid portaging.

Cheers

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

On 13-May-2006, "BeeRich" wrote:

OK, when I posted I thought that the Honey Harbour area is where we
would launch from, and head over to the Ojibwa (?) which is what I'm
thinking is the park. Sound reasonable?

Beausoleil Island is the only one with camping, AFAIK. I still think it's a waste of time
except for off-season day-paddles. It's an area crowded with powerboats and cottages.

We're doing our second trip in Massassauga, and it's one incredible
place to kayak in.

Massassauga is very nice, but I prefer off-season there as well.

So North is where we're coming from.

Stay towards the north - that's where the best sea kayaking areas are.

we've had plans for Kilarney. We want to avoid portaging.

Killarney park interior offers few sea kayaking opportunities without portages or
liftovers. However, I am talking about paddling out of the town of Killarney, not
the park.

You seem focussed on the parks, Since there's a lot of camping opportunities
outside of the parks that are less crowded and have no fees, I'd recommend
that. There are a couple of guidebooks on the area. I'd recommend the
one by Ohmann and Newman - "Sea Kayaking Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario".

Mike

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

In a previous article, "BeeRich" said:
Hi folks.

Anybody have any experience in GBINP? I'd like to head there this
summer to have a look. My kayaking mate and I go for 5 days, camping,
etc.

When I was a kid (30-35 years ago), I went to YMCA Camp Beausoleil. The
camp was totally focussed around the canoe trip - two days after you
arrived at the camp, having never been in a canoe or camping before in
your life, you were off on a multi-day canoe trip. The boys in the senior
cabins took the longest trip - eight days. We would canoe up the
"Muskwash" (although I think it was really called the Muskoka) river
nearly up to Bala, and then down the Moon, and then down the bay back to
Beausoleil. It was quite a trip, but there were lots of rapids and lots
of portaging. Yeah, there were lots of cottages and motorboats on the
Muskwash, but the Moon was pretty isolated.

The M+M song "You Sold the Cottage" names a lot of the lakes I paddled
through on those trips - Gibson, McRae, etc.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. And if he can't
be bothered to learn to fish and starves to death, that's a good enough
outcome for me. -- Steve VanDevender

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

On 12 May 2006 15:37:18 -0700, "BeeRich" wrote:

Hi folks.

Anybody have any experience in GBINP? I'd like to head there this
summer to have a look. My kayaking mate and I go for 5 days, camping,
etc.

Cheers

Took a nice trip a couple years ago from Honey Harbour out through
little dog channel to Beausoleil island we camped at the north end on
the east side this area seems to get the least amount of powerboaters
as it's the farthest from midland and penatang harbours. Going during
the week helps too. It's not very far just a couple hours paddle at
most.

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

Hi Mike. Beausoleil is where Ojibway is on the Google Maps. So we're
talking about the same thing.

When we did our first trip in Massassauga, we didn't see anybody but a
cruiser (powerboat, 40 feet) moored on the boundary of the park. We
stopped and spoke to them, which was quite interesting. This time
around we'll be doing the South entrance (Pete's Place), which is zero
portaging, except for one jumpover.

So you say stay in Massassauga and North. OK then, whereabouts do you
suggest? I have been looking and couldn't find anything reasonable
until Killarney, and even there, the interior has too many portages.
We also do Tobermory on a regular basis, but it doesn't look like this
year will see any, unless we avoid Ojibway.

I'll see if MEC has that book. You are right, we do concentrate on
parks. I will investigate that book. Sounds like a keeper.

Cheers

Georgian Bay Islands National Park
 

On 13-May-2006, "BeeRich" wrote:

OK then, whereabouts do you
suggest? I have been looking and couldn't find anything reasonable

Check that book and my first reply - I mentioned a loop through the Minks
and McCoys.

I will investigate that book. Sounds like a keeper.

There's another one by Jonathon someoneorother Kayaking Georgian Bay
or something like that. It's not as good and is notable for its mistakes.
You might look at it anyway - just check the facts before heading out.

The Ohmann and Newman book is quite good.

Mike